Armenia doesn’t use that as a means to spread its propaganda because it doesn’t consider it efficient. The programs broadcasted on Armenian Public Television’s satellite are only in Armenian and only Armenians living in the Diaspora have access to them.
Why isn’t Armenia taking advantage of the opportunity to spread its propaganda? First of all, let’s not forget that the Armenian authorities decide where and how to spread the propaganda. President of the Armenian Television/Radio Company’s council Alexan Harutyunyan, on the other hand, doesn’t place much emphasis on that.
“Our programs are in Armenian not only in Armenia, but also in the Diaspora. I think Azerbaijan is wasting time and money. If Azerbaijan is broadcasting Russian language programs, then it must take into consideration that Russian president Putin is also watching those programs and sees how Azerbaijan is using that as a means to spread its propaganda. Armenians watch programs in Armenian and I don’t know why I can’t broadcast my programs in Armenian. You’ve probably seen some political figures speaking in Russian on public television, thinking that Putin is probably at the Armenian embassy in Russia at the moment and listening to them. I think those politicians are just naïve,” says A. Harutyunyan. “If Armenia needs to spread its propaganda, then our audience is the Diasporan Armenians. If I even spread propaganda, why should I do it in Russian? After all, the Armenian-American or the Armenian living in France is not going to understand it, but the majority of Armenians in Russia actually understand Armenian. So, what’s the point of spreading propaganda?”
The president of the Armenian Television/Radio Company’s council said the following in response to the question as to whether or not it’s possible to spread propaganda in Russian for the Azerbaijani:
“I don’t think that Armenians watch Azerbaijani channels in the Diaspora. The only people who watch those programs are me and journalists like you to see what they are saying and print that information in the press. I am not of the opinion that the information given by “HyeLur” (Armenian news) interests the Azerbaijani news translators. For example, Armenians watch “HyeLur” to see the scandal rose by Azerbaijan in regard to Eurovision so that we can discuss it and prove the opposite. Small nations always have that complex and it remains to this day.”
According to A. Harutyunyan, the social event organizers (especially the ones that organized the recent event dedicated to the Karabagh conflict and the victims of Sumgait) shouldn’t really write the signs in Russian and English on top of the Armenian.
“Why do they do that? If they are doing it for the ambassadors, they can rest assured that the embassies only pay attention to the slogans that they want and make speeches about it where they please. If it’s for the foreigners passing by, I don’t think that really interests them. Even if they are interested, they always have translators who can translate for them.”
Harutyunyan added that being a small nation, Georgians don’t do similar things and he doesn’t think that the international community treats Azerbaijani better than Georgians.
“So, I really don’t think that we will actually be able to spread propaganda by broadcasting programs in Russian and that it will be understood by all Azerbaijani, except some journalists,” said the president of the Armenian Television/Radio Company’s council Alexan Harutyunyan in closing. In the end, he added that Armenian television networks must apply the “law on language” and that Armenian authorities must make sure everyone applies this law.